I think you're missing the original point I was trying to make. Java and .Net aren't really the tools, they're the medium in which you work. Just like that civil engineer understands the trade offs invovled with different kins of concrete ad using it in different ways, the Java programmer understands the trade offs involved with the API and VM, in addition to generic CS tradeoffs. Look at the following two fake resume excerpts:

Bob T. Builder : Civil Engineer with Emphasis in Concrete Stress ---Skills--- Autocad : Industry Used Physics Modeling Software

Suzie M. Hacker : Java Programmer ---Skills--- Eclipse : Ant

They seem roughly equivalent to me...